Envelope



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Sept. 17,' 1935.

A. TEICHER ENVELOPE v Filed July 25, 1954 )rr nn ,ver

Patented Sept. I7, 1935' Albert Teiehenmpzig,

Germany, assigner to Fritz Kroch, Leipzig, Germany Application' .my z5, 1934, serial No.

- In Germany July 28, 1933 'itesm 3 claims., (ci. 22a-so) It "has heretofore been proposed to apply to envelopes and the like; a self-sealing adhesive of such a character that when it is desired -to seal the envelopes it is merely necessary to bring 5 two coated surfaces together whereupon they will adhere to one another and cement together without moisture. stick to an uncoated .surface of the paper or other material from which the envelope is made.

Where an adhesive of the aforementionedtype is used it has heretofore been the practice to apply the adhesive to corresponding areas of the back of the envelope and of the sealing flap respectively, so that when the ap is folded over the back the two coated areas are superimposed and Aadhere to each other and eilectively seal the envelope. Various adhesives have been proposed for this purpose. The most suitable of such 'adhesives is a rubber solution. A

The presentinvention relates more particularly,

to envelopes and the like which are provided with an adhesive of the aforementioned type and such envelopes will be termed hereafter selfadhesive envelopes.

Self-adhesive envelopes previously had the disadvantage, that they wereprefolded at 'the folding line ofthe flap inthe usual manner. The prefolding of the flap breaks the paper libre in such a manner as to impart to ,the iiap a tendency to close of its own accord. To prevent unwanted sealing of the envelopes prior to their use, they were stacked with the ap open, that is in the same plane with that part of the envelope to which the flap was attached, usually the front thereof, but in handling, the envelopes had a tendency to close prematurely and cause adhesion between the coated surfaces. Thisresulted in the loss of envelopes and in a great deal of inconvenience and loss of time in handling. In another form of self-adhesive envelope the coating was covered with a protective film whichhad to be removed prior to use, and this, remedy was also cumbersome and expensive.

An object of the present invention is toprovide a self-adhesive envelope or the like in which the flap does not tendl to close of its own accord or prematurely.

Another object is to provide a self-adhesive envelope in which the closing flap is maintained coplanar with that face of the pocket of the envelope of which it is an extension, prior to the final sealing of the envelope.

Another object is to provide a self-adhesive envelope provided withl a scoring line or indention which does not alterthe coplanar relation be- However, the coating does notl tween the .pocket and the closing iiap, but which facilitates folding of the ap at'the proper line `upon sealing of the envelope.

Another object is to provide a self-adhesive envelope which can easily be stored in stacks or bundles without the envelopes adhering to each other.

Another object is to provide a self-adhesive envelope which does not require special care in handling prior to the sealing thereof.

Another object is to provide a self-adhesive envelope in which the iiap can be readilyY folded along the proper line for sealing.

Another object is to provide an envelope of the aforementioned kind in which the areas which 15 are coated with adhesive do not have objectional bulges, creases and ridges.

Another object is to provide a' seal for a selfadhesiveenvelope which requiresa minimum of attention and which is more seals for self-adhesive envelopes which have been proposed heretofore.

Further obiectsand advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 shows 25 an enlarged vertical cross section of an envelope in accordance with the present invention prior to use.

- Fig. 2 is a rear side view of the envelope.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through the 30 envelope after it is sealed.

Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive show diierent designs for the adhesive coating.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 which illustrate a letter envelope, the same consists of a front body portion a andaiI rear body vportion m which are attached to each other in the usual manner to form a flat bag or pocket by two side portions b. An extension of the top of the front body portion a forms the ap d for sealing the envelope. Corresponding areas onnthe outside surface of the back body portion m and of the inside surface of the flap d are coated with a self-adhesive substance as shown at e and f respectively.` As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 these coatings prefer- 45 ably consist of a. number of strips or sections separated from each other by narrow uncoated intervening spaces, the separating spaces of the two coatings e and f being preferabl-r arranged so that when the two areas are superimposed the s., coated sections only partly coincide with each other. The purpose or this arrangement is to provide air spaces or channels between the sec tions of the coatings e and f which, when they are brought in contact with each other, permit es reliable than other 20 the escape of air from between the two coatings and thusv cause them to more readily adhere together. Thus the air which may be entrapped between the coatings is more readily expelled by pressure thereon than would be the case if the coatings presented a solid unbroken area, in which case air blisters are easily trapped between the coatings and are then hard to expelas the air has to travel a relatively great distance through the surrounding area which has already been sealed.

A further purpose of the subdivision 'of the coating of the coated areas by blank spaces is to avoid unsightly ridges and bulges which are produced by covering wide unbroken areas of paper with an adhesive coating and also by entrapped air after sealing.

In order to obviate premature unwanted folding and sealing of the flaps the latter is not prefolded as has been customary with envelopes heretofore but the ap is maintained in the mme plane with the front of the envelope. However, in order to facilitate the folding at the correct line which is indicated by a in the drawing, the paper is indented by scoring or is provided with intermittent perforations along this line, so that it presents the line of least resistance to the bending strain when the ap is bent toward the back. This weakening causes the paper to readily crease on that line. It should be understood that the scoring must be accomplished in such a manner as not to prefold the paper, which would impart to the ilap a tendency to close as aforedescribed.

Referring to Figs. 4, 5, 6, '7, these show different other designs in which the adhesive may be applied .to theflap and to the corresponding back portions of the envelope, it being understood that the pattern ofthe two corresponding parts are such that the interstices which remain between adhering areas reduce the distances over which any entrapped air may have to pass before it is released are a minimum.

What I claim is:

1. An envelope comprising a flat pocket formed from a paper or other suitable sheet, a ilap formed from an extension of the same sheet to close said pocket and biased to remain coplanar with said pocket until folded upon closing of said pocket. 5 adhesive applied to complementary areas of said pocket and said ilap, said adhesive requiring no moistening and adhering only to adhesive, and an indention on the sheet between said pocket and said flap, providing a guide for folding said flap, said indention leaving the coplanar relation between the pocket and the flap unchanged.

2. An envelope comprising a flat pocket formed from a paper or other suitable sheet, a flap formed from an extension of the same sheet to close said pocket and biased to remain coplanar with said 4pocket until folded upon closing of said pocket, adhesive applied to complementary areas of said pocket, and said flap, said adhesive requiring no moistening and adhering only to adhesive, each of said areas being divided into narrow coated sections separated by uncoated sections, and an indention on the sheet between said pocket and said flap, providing a guide for folding said flap, said indention leaving the coplanar relation between the pocket and the flap unchanged.

3. An envelope comprising a flat pocket formed from a paper or other suitable sheet, a flap foned from an extension of the same sheet to close said pocket and biased to remain coplanar with said pocket until folded upon closing of said pocket, adhesive applied to complementary areas of said pocket and said flap, said adhesive requiring no moistening and adhering only to adhesive, each of said areas being divided into narrow coated sections, the individual coated sections o f one area overlapping only partly the coated sections of the other area 'when the ilap is folded, and an indention on the sheet between said pocket and said flap, providing a guide for folding said flap, said 40 indenton leaving the coplanar relation between Y the pocket and the ap unchanged.

ALBERT TEICHER. 

